Freedom of speech is not absolute. The United States Constitution allows for restrictions on speech in certain cases, particularly when there is a clear and present danger to national security.

TikTok has yet to pass the clear and present danger test that was established by rulings of the United States Supreme Court in cases such as Schenck v. United States (1919) and Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), with respect to the Espionage Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Last January the Wall Street Journal* reported that TikTok gave away protected American data to ByteDance engineers based in the People's Republic of China, claiming to enhance information service through "algorithm training." No wonder TikTok refuses to divest from ByteDance.

Currently, TikTok benefits from the protections of free speech in the United States while complying with the directives of the Chinese Communist Party through ByteDance. That's absurd, to say the least.

President Biden has recently signaled his support for a TikTok ban. Interestingly, though, his 2024 campaign has just launched a TikTok account on Super Bowl Sunday, February 11th.

Author: renqiulan

*https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/tech-news-briefing/tiktok-is-struggling-to-wall-off-us-user-data/77514E1F-C555-4F59-AD8A-33D5371F6F37